The present invention relates to the field of medical procedures, including surgery or other therapy, and diagnostic procedures, and provides a method and apparatus for positioning a patient in a desired orientation.
Radiation therapy, diagnostic imaging, surgery, and other medical procedures often require that a patient's head or body be aligned parallel to the center axis of a table, or other support, or to some other preferred orientation. It may be necessary to align the patient's head or body immediately before, or during, the medical procedure.
It is difficult for the patient to know his own orientation, and the patient may change his or her orientation during the procedure. Therefore, the personnel conducting the procedure need to adjust the patient's orientation manually before the procedure, or to pause the procedure to re-adjust the patient's orientation after the procedure has begun.
The present invention provides a method and device for automatically and precisely adjusting all or a portion of a patient's body, during a medical procedure.